Christine Hals

Film Music & Vocals

News

INCLUSION SALON – CONCERT

On September 7th Christine was one of the composers who were asked to compose and perform music at the very first INCLUSION SALON

This is a concert initiative to help promote minorities within the media world, and women are truly a minority within the world of film and music. There are less than 2% female film composers working today. Christine wrote a piece with ancient Norse lyrics “Hvárt býr Guð?” which means “Where Does God Dwell?” for soprano, choir led by Baraka May, string quartet led by Nina Evtuhov, piano Mike Lang and percussion MB Gordy. The concert was hosted by Michael Levine and Mirette Seireg and produced by Mpath, North Music Group (Abby North) and APM Music. Penka Kouneva was the music director. (photo James Jacoby)

The movie is a VR experience where you’re actually immersed in watching 72 minutes of film spread on 4 different screens in 18 minutes. I had to work mathematically and experiment a lot back and forth to make the music fit with the images and Kirsi’s strong vision. We stretched the music in time which I believe fits perfectly with the idea of “parallel realities and creativity” which is the foundation Kirsi built this project on.

Christine is honored to once again being a featured soloist on another score by the prolific A-list composer. The score for Ant-Man and the Wasp is very innovative, cool and of course epic like any other Marvel score. Christine’s voice is being used whenever the antagonist Ava shows up.

In addition to being the film’s score composer, Christine was also music supervisor putting her in charge of the film’s full musical arch. Golden Boy had a total of 11 diegetic songs and Christine wrote and produced 4 of them in addition to finding and placing the other 7. One of the artists on the film was the rapper V Knuckles aka Rahim Muhammed and the rap song “On a Mission».

Golden Boy premiered at the FilmOut Festival in San Diego June 8th 2018 .

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS - Nunu & Willump – A Boy and his Yeti

Once again Christine’s Nordic voice is featured in League of Legends by Ornn composer Kyle “Kole” Hicks. This time for the login screen of Freljord Champion Nunu and his Yeti friend Willump. At about 2min36s you can hear Christine’s voice.

“After Nunu discovered the fearsome monster of legend was just waiting for a good snowball fight, he and Willump became the best of friends.”

GOD OF WAR – with the Vitamin String Quartet

On June 13th Christine performed the music from video game God of War with the Vitamin String Quartet at the Novo Theater in Down Town LA for the E3 Gaming Convention 2018.
Musicians; Paul Jacob Cartwright, Amanda Lo, Lauren Elizabeth Baba and Derek Joseph Stein. The music was written by game composer Bear McCreary, arr by Edward Trybek. Host and producer of the show, Geoff Keighley.

MAJESTIC LANDSCAPES – At the Berlinale

In February Christine was invited to open the Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin with her composition “Majestic Landscapes” that she sang for her film composers colleagues, producers, directors and other industry professionals attending the Berlin Film Festival. This video from her hometown Nordkjosbotn was screening behind her.

Christine’s music for “Aero Origins” won the World Fest Award for best music in April 2018. In 2015 Christine’s music for “Aero” won for best music in the live action category at the same film festival.

2016

EINAR

Christine scored the viking movie Einar by Trifilm Pictures. Here’s a video from when she composed Sveina’s theme in the Norwegian mountains. She also recorded ancient Norwegian instruments with the Sami musician and instrument maker Øistein Hanssen and her brother Mads Hals singing 1100 year old lyrics from the viking era.

2013

FROZEN

Christine’s voice is featured in Disney’s Frozen!
In addition to the singing she also wrote lyrics in ancient Norse for the film with original music by Christophe Beck. In the Coronation Scene you can hear the choir piece Heimr Árnadalr sung in the extinct Viking language, Norse.

“Christine Hals – the Norwegian Force of Nature” – DT-BB

“Regional instruments and soloist Christine Hals’ kulning are both used throughout these opening tracks to great effect. The kulning — a high-pitched Scandinavian herding call — later acts as a thematically resonant detail in “Whiteout” as Anna calls out in a search through a blinding blizzard”

“Beck’s underscore includes the Norwegian bukkehorn (ram’s horn) and Norwegian-born, L.A.-based singer Christine Hals’ “kulning”, a high-pitched vocal technique that was once used to call cattle down from Scandinavian mountain pastures.” – Variety by Jon Burlingame

LOS ANGELES FILM CONDUCTING INTENSIVE

Christine was one of 12 participants in Maestro David Newman and Angel Velezvery first conducting workshop Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive January 14-17 2016. At the end of the 4 day intensive, Christine conducted a 67 piece orchestra playing her new piece Northern Skies at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros Studios.

Music

It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover. To know how to criticize is good, to know how to create is better.

Biography

Norwegian-Swedish film composer Christine Hals came from the snowy mountains and fjords of Norway to the beaches and bright boulevards of Los Angeles, CA after completing a Masters degree in Film Scoring at the highly acclaimed Dramatical Institute and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Back home, Christine scored for various short movies, features and documentaries, some of which have won several awards. Now she’s ready for even bigger challenges.

Weeks after graduating from a prestigious intensive one year course in music composition on scholarship at the University of Southern California, where Christine studied under the mentorship of A-list composer James Newton Howard, the young composer was head-hunted by Disney Studios. They needed Norwegian lyrics and vocals for a little film called Frozen, and Christine had the perfect artist background. As a young girl, she herded goats using a high-pitched singing style known as “kulning” to call the animals down from icy slopes. She also contributed lyrics in Ancient Norse to one of the songs composed by the film’s composer Christophe Beck. The filmmakers praised her work on Frozen which went on to become the top-grossing film of 2013 and win several Academy Awards including Best Animated Picture for directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and Best Song for songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez.

Christine lives, works and plays in Venice where she writes music for films, TV shows and computer games and also provides film vocals and pop vocals for fellow composers. Her background in fine art stands her in good stead when painting with sound for moving pictures. “I see music as colors and landscapes, but I think we all have different interpretations of it, so we see different colors and images. That’s why I love trying to figure out how directors want their films to be heard. I simply love mixing my colors and musical landscapes with their visuals.”

Christine is inspired by the world around her, whether that be the sounds of big city LA or Stockholm, or the murmur of the sea. She holds in her heart memories of Norway’s Northern lights in dark winter, the bright summer midnight sun and the beauty of snow stretching for miles and miles. Christine believes that creativity and your artistic side comes from your soul and your soul is touched by all the experiences you’ve had and all the people you’ve met, resulting in a music that reflects her travels as it explores different cultures, styles and musical imagery, bringing to life the newly-born characters of a filmmaker’s imagination.

Praise for Christine…

“You’re very dedicated and true to your music. You have a very unique sound and an extraordinary voice. What a range!”

“Working with Christine is like directing the perfect actor. She asks great questions and understands what the scene is about and what music’s role in it is. Then she surprises you with what she creates, finding moments in the visuals that you never knew were there. She’s always receptive to notes and new approaches to the material. Her passion for the project, musical sensitivity, amazing vocal skills and professionalism make her a pleasure to work with from start to finish.”

“Christine breathes life into every scene she scores. On each of our five collaborations, she’s found a true and unique way to musically write the subtext of the story. She’s used glass to create longing, a chime to depict inescapable sadness, and an mbira to help a young girl find courage to face the world on her own. In addition to Christine’s wide musical range and ample story telling abilities, she is a joyful collaborator who is wholly dedicated to excellence and always delivers.”

Behind The Audio – League of Legends – The music was written by composer Kyle ‘Kole’ Hicks, composer at Riot Games, and features the lead vocal performance by Christine Hals who was already responsible for Nordic vocal parts in Disney’s Frozen.

Insider Fem – Christine was recently featured on the Norwegian TV Show Insider Fem that visits people around the world with unique lifestyles or occupations.

NRK Radio – Norway’s Official Broadcasting Corporation – Christine Hals from Elverum, lives and works in Los Angeles as a film composer. She has sung and written lyrics to among others, the super hit “Frozen”.

Østnorsk Film She is perhaps most known for her snow calling in Disney’s major success “Frozen”. Here she’s using the Scandinavian herding call technique kulning which she learned from herding goats at her father’s farm in Troms. She also wrote the Norse lyrics in Elsa’s Coronation scene. She’s very much inspired by Norwegian nature and culture which you can hear in her music.

Swedish Music Producers – Christine Hals makes Swedish Music Producers top list. A list that is hard to make considering Sweden is one of the world’s biggest exporters of pop music. Other names on the list is Max Martin, Bloodshy, Avicii, Shellback, Andreas Carlsson, Swedish House Mafia and Robyn. “Christine was born in Norway, but refined in Sweden” As she got her full music education in Sweden and even a Swedish grant to higher studies in the US, Christine considers herself a Scandinavian composer as opposed to only Norwegian.

NRK Radio – Buskerud Direkte – Christine was interviewed after she won the prestigious SKAP-award. Nominated and given by The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – SKAP in December 2014.

Variety: ”Beck’s underscore includes the Norwegian bukkehorn (ram’s horn) and Norwegian-born, L.A.-based singer Christine Hals’ “kulning,” a high-pitched vocal technique that was once used to call cattle down from Scandinavian mountain pastures.”

“The Trolls,” “Coronation Day,” and “Heimr Àrnadalr” all feature strong thematic writing, showcasing Beck’s ability to jump musical styles as needed, while staying true to the film’s tone and geographic influences. Regional instruments and soloist Christine Hals’ kulning are both used throughout these opening tracks to great effect. The kulning — a high-pitched Scandinavian herding call — later acts as a thematically resonant detail in “Whiteout” as Anna calls out in a search through a blinding blizzard.

“The film also features authentic Norwegian kulning, a melodic herding call utilized by farmers to beckon goats and sheep from mountain pastures. Native Norwegian singer and aspiring film composer Christine Hals was tapped to perform the distinctive vocals for the film.”

“With ‘Frozen,’” he said, “we had the setting to draw from—these incredible icy snowy vistas, which are very evocative. The region provided us with lots of really cool and interesting sound to explore that I’d never heard—I don’t think many people outside of the region have either.”

Filmmakers recruited a Norwegian linguist to help with the lyrics for an Old Norse song written for Elsa’s coronation. And the team even travelled to Norway to record the all-female choir Cantus for a piece inspired by traditional Norwegian music. The score, which was recorded by a full 80-piece orchestra, features 32 vocalists—including native Norwegian Christine Hals, whose rural upbringing inspired her kulning skills.”

“Composer Christophe Beck provided the score for FROZEN. Like the songs, the score can take a scene and communicate an emotion or moment, that might otherwise not have as much impact without it. Using regional instruments and vocal techniques, Beck used his incredible talent to incorporate unique sounds, common to the Norway inspired setting. The score was recorded using a full 80 piece orchestra, with 32 vocalists, including Christine Hals, a native Norwegian.

Working alongside Kristen and Robert, their goal “was to create a cohesive musical journey from beginning to end.” In my opinion, they not only succeeded, they surpassed their goal and then some.

“That sounds about right – To pepper the script with authentic Norwegian words, accents and phrases, filmmakers called on Jackson Crawford, who teaches Old Norse, Scandinavian mythology, Vikings and sagas at UCLA. His research focuses on the history of Old Norse and Norwegian. Native Norwegian singer and aspiring film composer Christine Hals was tapped to perform the distinctive vocals for the film. “